The attack decimated Kremlin forces, led to the recapture of some 3,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory and prompted an unusual admission by the Russian Defense Ministry that its troops had to withdraw. “A counterattack liberates territory and then you have to control it and be ready to defend it,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told the Financial Times, warning: “Of course, we have to worry, this war has us worried. for years.” On Sunday night, Russia attacked Ukraine with artillery and missile attacks from the Black Sea. In Kharkiv, the night sky lit up after a strike at the country’s second largest thermal power station caused a total blackout. A total blackout also hit the Donetsk region, while Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy experienced partial blackouts. Russian forces are “terrorists and remain terrorists and attack critical infrastructure. Without military installations, the goal is to deprive people of light and heat,” President Volodmyr Zelensky tweeted. Russia’s most ardent pro-war commentators celebrated civilian areas left without power: “Hey neighbors, what’s up with the light?” mocked Russia Today editor Margarita Simonyan. But late Sunday, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior Ukrainian official, said power had been restored in some areas.
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The Ukrainian blitzkrieg — which Reznikov described as a “snowball rolling down a hill” — is Russia’s biggest setback so far since the full-scale invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin on February 24. Ramzan Kadyrov, the powerful leader of Chechnya, which has supported Moscow by sending troops, criticized the Russian military for the retreat and said that if their strategy did not change, he would speak to the “leadership of the country”. “Mistakes were made. I think they will draw conclusions. It might not be nice when you tell someone the truth to their face, but I like to tell the truth,” she said. Ukraine’s latest offensive marks a success along the northernmost of the three active front lines in the conflict, and Kiev’s forces continued to gain the upper hand on Sunday. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander of the armed forces, said they were only 50 kilometers from the Russian border. The photos he posted on Telegram showed military posts that Russian troops had abandoned so hastily that meals were left on wooden tables. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to liberate territories held by Russia,” Zaluzhnyi wrote. “Since the beginning of September, more than 3,000 square kilometers have been returned.” Oleksii Reznikov: “A counter attack frees up territory and then you have to control it and be ready to defend it” © Sascha Steinbach/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Russian supporters also fled the occupied territories in the Luhansk region, southeast of Kharkiv, said Serhiy Hayday, the Ukrainian head of the region’s military command. “Mass dispossession is on the horizon,” Headey told Ukrainian television on Sunday. “Maybe this one [victory] it won’t be in a day or two, but it will happen soon. . . We can say that their morale has been shaken.” Reznikov said Ukrainian troops were tired after the six-day offensive, but morale was high because “it’s a sign that Russia can be defeated.” He warned that Russian reinforcements could trigger a counterattack on his country’s strained supply lines. Ukrainian forces could also be surrounded by new Russian troops if they advance too far. Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, said the Ukrainian advance was a moment of hope. “This is what we need,” she said during a visit to Kyiv. Russia’s defense ministry acknowledged on Saturday that its forces had withdrawn from the strategic city of Izyum, saying it had decided to “regroup” and move them southeast to the Donetsk region. Ukrainian troops had surrounded Kupyansk, north of Izyum, a road and rail hub that feeds Russia’s defenses across northeastern Ukraine. This left thousands of Russian troops cut off from supplies in a hotly contested part of the battlefield. Freeing Izyum “would be the most significant Ukrainian military achievement since it won the Battle of Kiev in March,” said analysts at the US-based Institute for the Study of War. They expected Ukrainian forces “to capture the city of Izyum itself within the next 48 hours, if they haven’t already.” Officials and military analysts cautioned that the success of the offensive did not mean Ukrainian troops were about to push Russian forces back to the border. Reznikov said the near-simultaneous counteroffensive around Kherson was making slower progress because it was an agricultural area “with irrigation canals” that the Russians could use as defensive trenches. Casualties there were reportedly heavy and Ukraine’s general staff said 1,200 Chechen soldiers had been deployed to reinforce Russian positions. Reznikov said the Chechens were being used to prevent front-line troops from leaving their positions. “News from the Defense Department about the withdrawal will spread quickly,” said Dara Masiko, a Russia military expert at the Rand Corporation, a US think tank. “Moscow should not underestimate how quickly bad news, panic and rumors can collapse on the front – especially given the exhaustion of forces that comes from months of combat, lack of reserves and rest.”
